Thoughts on Life, Love, Politics, Hypocrisy and Coming Out in Mid-Life

Monday, April 23, 2018

What Happened to Responsible Conservatives

Once upon a time conservatives and Republicans put country first and were advocates for science, knowledge and education. They even believed in the social safety net. Those days are gone and today's hideous version of the Republican Party and the foul occupant of the White House now seem hell bent to turn America into something resembling a banana republic from the 1950's. One cannot help but wonder what the hell happened. In my view, two things: (i) the Christofascist take over of the GOP base, and (ii) the GOP's embrace of white supremacy. To the Christofascists, science, knowledge and good education are a threat since they run the risk of enlightening would be adherence to a toxic dogma that the entire Christofascist worldview is based on fantasy. As for the embrace of racism, the party is now obsessed with an us versus them mindset where "winning" requires that others lose, both in terms of civil rights and whose is viewed as a"real American." As a column in the Washington Post reminds us, things were not always like this:

The past several days underscore why not only political
progressives but genuine moderates are at their wit’s end with the Republican
Party and what passes for contemporary American conservatism.

If conservatism in the United States has
claimed to stand for anything, it is the idea that government authority should
be limited. Conservatives regularly argue (especially when Democrats are in the
White House) that the executive’s clout should be checked and that legitimate
law enforcement authorities deserve our respect, particularly when they are
investigating abuses of power.

The behavior of House Republicans in demanding former FBI director James B. Comey’s memos about
his conversations with President Trump, which were subsequently leaked to the
media, shows a GOP that has abandoned all principle. It is willing to do
whatever it takes to protect a president who has no regard for the truth, the
law or established norms.

Any doubts that Republicanism and conservatism
have given themselves over to one man, his whims and his survival were
dispelled by the GOP’s use of the congressional oversight process to
undermine a legitimate probe into a hostile power’s interference in our
elections.

As it happens, the actual memos are embarrassing to Trump
and support Comey’s veracity. And if the Republicans’ obstructionist
triumvirate of Reps. Devin Nunes of California, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and
Trey Gowdy of South Carolina had hoped to prove that Comey leaked classified
information, the
memos reveal exactly the opposite.

It should be stunning that the chairs of the
Intelligence, Judiciary and Oversight committees are more interested in doing
Trump’s bidding than in figuring out how Vladimir Putin may have helped to
elect our current president. It’s possible to imagine that, somewhere, Ronald
Reagan is weeping.

The ongoing frustration of many of us who really did
respect conservatism once upon a time is not just about the movement’s
capitulation to Trump. It is also triggered by the supposedly substantive side
of the news: The only thing Republicans in Congress know how to do now that
their corporate tax cut has proved to be unpopular is — to propose moretax cuts. There is an emptiness where
problem-solving conservatism used to be.

In the period when democracy planted deep
roots in Western Europe and was thriving in the United States, conservative
parties were led by figures such as Dwight Eisenhower in the United States, Harold Macmillan in Britain, Konrad Adenauerin West Germany and Charles de Gaulle in France.

Applying the insights of this more responsible version of
conservatism to our time would lead us to seek the best approaches to the very
discontents that helped put Trump in the White House in the first place — for
example, growing inequality. A 2016 Congressional Research
Service report found that income
inequality has been increasing since 1970. And between 2000 and 2015, incomes
actually went down for the bottom 60 percent of earners. There are many causes
of division and resentment in our country, and this is surely one of them.

We need a politics where the democratic left and right
compete over who can most effectively and efficiently excise this social cancer
from our body politic. Such a debate could be both instructive and productive.

Alas, except for a small, honorable cadre of
writers and think-tankers, the American right has taken itself out of the game.
Our politics will remain broken as long as conservatism confines its energies
to cutting taxes and defending a reckless president at all costs.

Translate This Page

Contact Me to Order Title Work

LGBT Legal Services

About Me

Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

Disclaimer on Opinions and Content

This Blog contains content that may be innapropriate for readers under the legal age of 18. IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE, PLEASE LEAVE NOW. Thank you

This is an opinion and commentary blog and the opinions and contents of this Blog - including opinions expressed concerning opponents of LGBT equality - are the opinions only of the individual blogger and should not be attributed to any other individuals or to any organization of which the blogger is a past or current member.

Followers

Michael-in-Norfolk disclaims any and all responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, legality, reliability, operability, or availability of information or material displayed on this site and does not claim credit for any images or articles featured on this site, unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyrighted to it's respectful owners. Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies, and Michael-in-Norfolk does not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site's content. If you own rights to any of the images or articles, and do not wish them to appear on this site, please contact Michael-in-Norfolk via e-mail and they will be promptly removed. Michael-in-Norfolk contains links to other Internet sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience and are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information or content in such site has been endorsed or approved by this blog.